Techmeme
September 6, 2017, 9:30 PM

Top News

Washington Post:
Facebook says it sold ~$100K of ads on politically divisive topics to Russia-linked accounts from 6/15-5/17; sources say FB told Congress ads targeted US voters  —  Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that it has discovered it sold ads during …
Alex Stamos / Facebook:
Facebook shares details on Russia-linked ads: most did not specifically reference the election but divisive social issues; ~25% were geo targeted  —  There have been a lot of questions since the 2016 US election about Russian interference in the electoral process.
Cyrus Farivar / Ars Technica:
Federal judge dismisses libel suit against Techdirt from Shiva Ayyadurai, who claims he invented email, due to difficulty in defining email  —  Judge: Techdirt articles were opinionated and hyperbolic, but not libel.  —  A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a libel lawsuit filed earlier …
Shannon Liao / The Verge:
Twitter begins rolling out its Night Mode feature on Twitter.com, following iOS and Android apps  —  Twitter.com launched its Night Mode feature on desktop today, although the feature has yet to roll out to all accounts.  The feature has already been available on iOS and Android since last year.
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft to hold Surface keynote during its annual Future Decoded event next month; sources say it's expected to unveil at least one new Surface device  —  Microsoft's Surface chief will hold a keynote speech in London at the end of October.  The software giant is holding its annual Future Decoded event …
STAT:
Investigation finds IBM's Watson for Oncology program, pitched as an AI-based system for cancer care, falls far short of the expectations IBM created for it  —  It was an audacious undertaking, even for one of the most storied American companies: With a single machine, IBM would tackle humanity's …
Dan Goodin / Ars Technica:
Symantec: “Dragonfly” hacker group has penetrated operational networks of multiple US and European energy companies that control key parts of the power grid  —  Intrusion into power companies' operational networks is a dramatic escalation.  —  Nation-sponsored hackers have penetrated …
Hollywood Reporter:
Sources: Amazon and Apple are competing with Warner Bros. and others for rights to the James Bond franchise and are willing to pay as much as the studio  —  The franchise, and its future, are up for grabs as Agent 007 is being viewed as one of the last untapped brands that could be a game changer.
David Meyer / Fortune:
Facebook says ad reach estimates from Adverts Manager are based on how many could see the ad, not an area's population, explaining discrepancy with census data  —  Facebook's advertising metrics have again been called into question, after Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser pointed …
Tony Romm / Recode:
House passes bipartisan SELF-DRIVE Act, which is now heading to Senate and would let companies test as many as 100,000 new self-driving cars on US roads  —  It's still an early win for companies like Ford, Google and Uber.  —  The U.S. House approved a bill on Wednesday that could soon pave …
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
Survey of wealthy technologists reveals support for left-leaning social policies, like wealth redistribution, but a rejection of regulation and labor unions  —  Silicon Valley has long preferred to remain aloof from national politics, but the Trump era has altered that stance.
Chris Welch / The Verge:
T-Mobile's unlimited data family plans with two or more lines now include free Netflix, following AT&T bundling free HBO with its Unlimited Plus plan  —  If you've got an unlimited data family plan at T-Mobile, you'll soon be getting free Netflix to go along with it.
Liana B. Baker / Reuters:
Sports e-commerce firm Fanatics confirms it has raised $1B led by SoftBank's Vision Fund, valuing it at $4.5B, and will use the funds to expand internationally  —  New York (Reuters) - Sports e-commerce firm Fanatics has closed a $1 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group Corp's Vision fund …
More: Fortune
Saritha Rai / Bloomberg:
Apple's refusal to approve Indian government's anti-spam Do Not Disturb app, which lets users report spam calls or texts, is frustrating telecom regulators  —  Apple Inc.'s refusal so far to approve the Indian government's anti-spam iPhone app is infuriating regulators …
Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Amazon's Souq acquires same- and next-day delivery platform Wing.ae, which serves Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt, for an undisclosed sum  —  Earlier this year, Amazon jump-started its business in the Middle East by paying $580 million to acquire Souq.com, an Amazon-style marketplace based out of Dubai.

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